Gosport council wants to build Passivhaus homes - its first social housing for six years

Gosport Borough Council is submitting plans, with ECD Architects, for three social housing developments in priority areas defined in the council's housing register. In total there would be 15 homes built to Passivhaus specifications.

Sites in Stoner Close, Glebe Drive and Wheeler Close would provide a mixture of homes ranging from one to five bedrooms.

NOW READ: Budget leaves food bank managers fearing a tough winter

The council wants Passivhaus developments as they are designed to be extremely energy efficient to protect the environment and social tenants on low incomes.

Councillor Sue Ballard, chairman of the housing board said: ‘The last time any social housing was built in Gosport was in 2016.

‘It’s an absolute priority of the current administration to provide more social housing. We’ve got a long waiting list and a huge demand for it.

‘This is just phase one of a program of council housing that we aspire to build. Wider aspirations would be bigger development sites - rather than a few scattered here and there around the borough.

‘We’ve currently got over 400 on our waiting list and under the right-to-buy scheme we’re losing properties so we need to replace them.

‘Demand for council housing far exceeds the stock that we hold and the cost-of-living crisis threatens a homelessness surge.’

The detailed plans of the developments have been finalised and will be submitted in a formal planning application, subject to approval from the housing board on November 23.